“More teacher role play, is it?” Joe quipped.
“Maybe. Do you promise to be a good student?” Krista was already standing, walking over to the bar area, barefoot, getting her supplies. She came back with a cutting board, ice, limes, a jar of hot honey, a bottle of tequila, and orange liqueur.
Joe’s smile widened as she lined everything up. “I’m liking the look of this lesson so far.”
She grabbed two glasses and tipped them to show him the rims. “First rule? Foreplay matters.”
Joe watched her hands. “You’ve got my attention.”
“You want to wet the rim.” She dampened the edge of one glass with a lime wedge. “Then get it ready for the main event.” She slid it through a shallow dish of salt and a pinch of chili-lime seasoning.
Joe watched her hands, studying her every move.
“Then comes the tequila, two ounces. No free pouring here.”
“Details matter,” Joe said, nodding in approval.
“Then we add one ounce of the orange liqueur and fresh squeezed lime juice. None of the bottled stuff.”
Krista squeezed the lime, the citrus scent bright and sharp in the warm air. “Now the important part.”
She dipped a spoon into the jar of hot honey and held it up. Gold caught the firelight, slow and glossy.
Joe’s gaze tracked the honey like it was hypnotizing him. “How much?”
“Half an ounce.” Krista let it ribbon into the shaker, thick and lazy. “Enough to taste it. Not so much it turns into syrup.”
She then added the ice, capped the shaker off, and handed it to Joe.
“Don’t be gentle. You want it cold.”
Joe shook as instructed, muscles in his forearms flexingwith the rhythm. The movement did unfair things to her focus. She swallowed.
“Okay,” she said briskly. “Now we strain it in a glass.”
Joe poured the drinks into two glasses while Krista topped them off with a lime wedge. “Moment of truth.”
They picked up their glasses, “cheersed” one another, and took that first sip.
She tasted that sweet honey first, then lime, then that gentle burn that warmed her chest. It was perfect.
She made a satisfied sound.
Joe’s grin turned smug. “That good?”
Krista lowered the glass, eyes narrowing. “Don’t get cocky.”
Joe leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his knees. “Let me taste yours.”
He reached for her glass, but Krista lifted it out of reach. “Uh-uh.”
“Come on. Have a little bit of fun…”
Joe reached for her hand, turning her palm up with an ease that made her pause under his touch. He took the lime wedge, wetting her wrist, then followed with a line of salt.
He looked up at her from under his lashes. “Taste test,” he said, like it was all business.
Then he leaned in and dragged his tongue along her wrist. It was slow and warm, with just enough pressure to send her imagination into overdrive.
